PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In Q3, Tesla delivered 26,150 vehicles, of which 14,065 were Model S, 11,865 were Model X, and 220 were Model 3. This was our all-time best quarter for Model S and X deliveries, representing a 4.5% increase over Q3 2016, our previous best quarter, and a 17.7% increase over Q2 2017.

We had previously indicated that second half Model S and X deliveries would likely exceed first half deliveries of 47,077, but we now expect to exceed that by several thousand vehicles. In total, we expect to deliver about 100,000 Model S and X vehicles in 2017, which would be a 31% increase over 2016.

In addition to Q3 deliveries, about 4,820 Model S and X vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of the quarter. These will be counted as deliveries in Q4 2017.

Q3 production totaled 25,336 vehicles, with 260 of them being Model 3. Model 3 production was less than anticipated due to production bottlenecks. Although the vast majority of manufacturing subsystems at both our California car plant and our Nevada Gigafactory are able to operate at high rate, a handful have taken longer to activate than expected.

It is important to emphasize that there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain. We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term.

Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct. Final numbers could vary by up to 0.5%. Tesla vehicle deliveries represent only one measure of the company’s financial performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly financial results, which depend on a variety of factors, including the cost of sales, foreign exchange movements and mix of directly leased vehicles.

It’s hard to keep a secret in a world inundated with digital devices. Photos popped up on reddit yesterday of what appears to be the Tesla Semi being delivered to an area in southern California that is frequently used by Tesla as proving ground for upcoming products. Teslarati identifies the location as Inyokern Airport, which is about 150 miles north of the Tesla Design Center in Hawthorne (where the Model 3 was first shown to the public).

The Express in the UK picked up on the photos and pointed out some interesting things it sees in them. First, the Tesla Semi is practically svelte compared to the conventional tractor that towed it. Gone are the huge frontend where the traditional diesel engine resides and the barn door side-view mirrors commonly associated with big rigs.

The Tesla Semi is more of a cab-over design, thanks in part to the fact that it uses electric motors instead of a gigantic diesel. The truck seems to have been designed to maximize aerodynamic efficiency, which will be critical to achieving the relatively long range of up to 300 miles Elon Musk says it will offer.

Advance notification has gone out to Tesla owners who have sent 5 or more customers to the company during its latest referral campaign, telling them to expect an email later this month with details about the official unveiling event scheduled for October 26 at the Design Center in Hawthorne.

Tesla “Save the Date” email for its October 26 Semi-truck event courtesy of Like Tesla

There is so much we don’t know about the Tesla Semi. Will it use battery swapping or does the company have some new high-speed, super-high-power charging scheme in mind? Where will the trucks be manufactured? When will production begin? What companies have expressed an interest in buying them and how many will they buy?

We should know the answers to all those questions by the time October 26 rolls around. Tesla is famous for throwing gala parties when it takes the covers off a new product. No doubt the ceremony to introduce the Tesla Semi to the world will be no different.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) +0.9% after-hours after Nomura initiates coverage of the stock with a Buy rating and a Street-high $500 price target, vs. a consensus target of slightly more than $300.

Analyst Romit Shah forecasts "unprecedented" revenue gains for TSLA - $8B in 2016 to $58B in 2021 - and believes the company has "an insurmountable lead in vehicle range per dollar."

TSLA also benefits from a largely inferior competitive field which should drive growth at current levels and help it work through Model 3 production problems, Shah says, adding that he expects upwards of mid-to-high 20% gross margins by 2020.

A change in supply chain partners has fueled concerns that Tesla may be struggling to meet stationary energy-storage delivery commitments.

Last week, the Nikkei Asian Review reported that Tesla had turned to Samsung SDI, instead of its usual cell supplier Panasonic, to provide the batteries needed for its most high-profile project to date, a 100-megawatt, 129-megawatt-hour battery plant in South Australia.

“The decision to use Samsung SDI is a blow to Panasonic, which has its hands full with orders for electric-vehicle batteries,” said Nikkei Asian Review.

“To meet a self-imposed deadline of 100 days, Tesla turned to the South Korean company since it could swiftly supply the cells. Tesla is importing the cells to the U.S. for final assembly before sending them to Australia -- apparently taking the promotional benefits over profit," the article states.

Under a deal struck by Tesla boss Elon Musk, if Tesla does not complete the South Australian project within 100 days of the grid-connection agreement, then Australia gets it for free.

The clock officially began ticking on Friday, Sept. 29, when a grid connection agreement was inked with transmission company Electranet.

At the same time, Tesla seized upon a PR opportunity to pack what Bloomberg said were “hundreds” of batteries off to Puerto Rico in the wake of the devastation left by Hurricane Maria.

One aerial photo of the destruction showed a sign that said “SEND TESLA,” spelled out with the debris from a hurricane-smashed home.

Responding to these high-profile opportunities has undoubtedly helped Tesla further increase its standing as the most famous energy storage brand on earth. But it has also put intense pressure on Tesla’s supply chain, many experts believe.

The change in suppliers for the South Australian project “would point to a supply issue of some kind,” an Australian energy insider told GTM.

“If the [Tesla] Gigafactory is focused on the South Australia 100-megawatt battery [plant], that might have consequences for other products," the source said. "The feeling locally is that this would push the cost of the project up significantly.”

Some observers also believe a supply bottleneck might force Tesla to prioritize headline-grabbing project deliveries over other orders.

According to Tesla, orders are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis, and each customer is given an estimated delivery or installation time when they place their order. New Powerwall orders will not be fulfilled until the first quarter of next year, though.

And elsewhere there are signs that rank-and-file Powerwall customers are facing long delivery delays.

Speaking in a podcast with Australia’s RenewEconomy last month, Australian solar industry veteran Nigel Morris said: “There are a lot of people who have placed orders for Powerwall 2s. They aren’t available at the moment. There’s no stock coming into the country.”

“Due to limited shipments, Tesla is prioritizing deliveries to preferred partners and high-profile contracts and markets," said Ravi Manghani, energy storage director at GTM Research. "Tesla is really pushing to establish dominance in Australia, for instance.”

It may be doing so at the expense of other markets, he said. In the U.S., meanwhile, some solar installers have expressed concern that Tesla may face a conflict with independent channel partners after having taken over SolarCity.

“The Powerwall is a cool product. There is a lot of interest in it. But the fact that it’s being installed by SolarCity is a classic case of channel conflict," said Barry Cinnamon, CEO of San Francisco-based Spice Solar.

“It makes rational business sense [for Tesla] to divert inventory to their own installation company so they can make more revenue," he said.

Installers, including Spice Solar, which does not stock Powerwalls, owes Tesla a debt of gratitude for having popularized energy storage, he said. But, Cinnamon added: “I’m aware of a lot of contractors who signed up to sell it and a lot who are still waiting for equipment.”

Perhaps because of looming product shortages, Tesla appears to be raising the bar for independent contractors wanting to install its Powerwalls. Anecdotally, some installers claim to have been stonewalled by Tesla, forcing them to choose alternative battery suppliers.

Analysts were not able to confirm this. But Manghani has heard there are currently just "a handful" of certified electrical contractors that Tesla will allow to install these systems.

Join GTM for a deep dive into the budding domestic energy storage market at the U.S. Energy Storage Summit 2017. Utilities, financiers, regulators, technology innovators, and storage practitioners will all come together for two full days of data-intensive presentations, analyst-led panel sessions with industry leaders, and extensive, high-level networking. Learn more here.

1,000 and still growing at a rapid rate. The Tesla Supercharger network has reached a milestone of 1,000 stations installed around the world since late 2012, when the first few were opened in California.

Tesla’s new Urban Supercharger

Supercharge.info, a site that tracks all of the Tesla Superchargers, lists the following data: